Picks and Pans Review: The Eyebrow

Makeup artist Robyn Cosio knows about bad eyebrows. Born with a dreaded unibrow, as a teen she shaved it off and spent hours each day drawing in new arches, line by line, with a No. 2 pencil. Luckily, the hair grew back. Now she happily helps clients such as Jamie Lee Curtis and Gina Gershon avoid similar follicular foibles. After all, Cosio writes, "what other calling allows you to give women an instant 'face lift' that will elevate their spirits as well as widen and enlarge their eyes?"

Using black-and-white images of icons from history and from Hollywood, she traces the evolution of eyebrow style: from Cleopatra's painted-on pair to Joan Crawford's "diva arch" and Brooke Shields's famously unplucked '80s brows. These days, grooming is in again, so for those who can't make it to Cosio's Beverly Hills salon, she provides a how-to guide. If your brows need filling in, she advises, use eye shadow instead of a pencil. And whatever you do, don't shave them. (ReganBooks, $30)